I made it out to Seahawks practice (OTA) for the first time in a few weeks, and I must admit I was a little overwhelmed with all the new faces. The Seahawks have been very busy in signing free agents and bringing in plenty of competition at every position. So today I’m standing there counting up the number of players I haven’t met yet , trying not to panic when I finally decide the best thing to do is just get started somewhere. After practice I met 3 of the new faces – only a couple dozen more to go!

I still have plenty of work to do in getting to know the team, but it will happen in time. The same is true for increasing your sports knowledge. It doesn’t matter where you start – just pick a spot and start small. You won’t learn everything in a day or a week or even a year. Don’t treat it like a cramming for a final. That doesn’t work very well, and in the long run you rarely remember the information.

Don’t know where to start? Try going to a game or watching a game on TV. Pick a setting you’d enjoy hanging out in – like Safeco Field on a beautiful summer afternoon in Seattle, or maybe it’s hanging out with your friends at sports bar like The Hawks Nest. Don’t worry about being locked in to the game. Watch what you want and what interests you. And if you’re unfamiliar with the sport follow the crowd. Home town fans cheering? That’s a good thing. Booing? Not so good. I still do this at soccer games. I didn’t grow up playing soccer so sometimes I rely on the cheering crowd to give me a sense of what’s going on in the game.

The sooner you start familiarizing yourself with names , teams, sports or players the easier it will be to start following more closely, expand your knowledge base and feel more comfortable joining the conversation.

One thought on “How to Talk Sports Like a Pro [hint; it doesn’t happen overnight]”

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Commit to sports conversations on your terms. Sports topics and business applications for feeling confident in any conversation.